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Companies and people will always find ways to pay the least amount required by law. If apple is always going to pay the lower rate, then just keep increasing the rate so they will proportionally pay more.

Say Apple pays half of the 35%, then just raise the rate to 75% so Apple will pay 35%. Easy fix.

You win the "Most Absurd Post of the Day" award! Congratulations.
 
This is an ideological battle (about tax rates) that is playing out between some countries in Europe and between America and Europe. Apple are the biggest target and will just have to put up with it for now.
 
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Bear in mind Stiglitz was the guy paid by Rolex-wearing Argentinian socialist ex-president Kirchner, who is now herself under investigation for fraud by the Argentine people, to get away with not paying their debts on Argentinian bonds - he said that was fraud too. She destroyed the Argentinian economy, seizing foreign assets left right and centre. Stieglitz took his money and moved on to Greece.

He was also paid by Greek Communist disasters Tsipras and international playboy Iannis Varoufakis, to try to get Greece to walk away from all its obligations by not paying debtors - he called the EU fraudsters for wanting something in return for a bailout. Varoufakis got kicked out and is now under investigation by the Greek people. They destroyed the Greek economy.

So now he's moving on to Apple. The guy's a joke. Sweden, being a socialist country, couldn't bear to give the Nobel prize to a free-market economists Akerlof and Spence so gave one the same year to commie Stieglitz to even the score. It's like Arafat Perez Rabin getting the Peace Prize. Kinda ridiculous.

Now it all makes senses. I was going to look into this loser but didn't really care enough to google him. Thanks for the info!
 
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“The government has no money, it is trillions in debt from enriching the military-intel-industrial complex post-9/11 (one reason 9/11 was allowed to happen and made to happen) and bailing out foreign banks post-2008 crash with trillions in U.S. taxpayers’ money. Naturally, I blame Apple for smart business choices.”

- Joseph Stiglitz
 
How is that fair? Clearly money needs to be taxed every single time it changes hands so the government has more to misspend and overspend with. Just tax until there's nothing left.

I completely agree tax American citizens until their is nothing left so Apple can pay zero taxes what so ever while hoarding hundreds of billions of dollars while the average middle class American struggles.
 
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It is not fraud in a legal sense but it certainly is not fitting with Apple's "we want to make the world a better place narrative".
Depends upon what you consider to be fraud.
Even if they think the taxes are too high - since when is it theirs to judge ? Shouldn't that be a matter of democracy? And there will always be a cheaper place in order to avoid taxes.
In a nut shell this is a big problem. It isn't in any bodies best interests for companies to be setting their tax rates. It isn't even in Apples best interest to be obsessed with taxes in anyone location.
Either way: Being the most profitable company in the world and operating worldwide and then trying to evade taxes in order to pay two bucks fifty In taxes is -while not illegal- simply not right.

Paying the minimal amount in taxes is always right and is right for everybody. Working sweetheart deals though impact everybody, something we have way too much of in the USA. It is interesting that the EU want to prosecute Apple for doing something in Ireland that is all too common in the USA. Companies routinely negotiate low tax rates in exchange for "Job creation" often at the expense of existing local businesses. It is really sleazy and last I knew perfectly legal in most states.

Tax rates need to be applied equally to all businesses nation wide. As for the EU that little organization is falling apart as it is. Ultimately they need the same policy of level corporate taxes.

As for Ireland I do understand their point of view, at one time they really needed job creation. The problem is that time has passed. Ireland's economy is doing much better and the unemployment rate is not as bad as it once was.
 
I completely agree tax American citizens until their is nothing left so Apple can pay zero taxes what so ever while hoarding hundreds of billions of dollars while the average middle class American struggles.

No, I said tax at every stage of money changing hands. Corporations would be taxed to death too.
 
They aren't the best at avoiding taxes. But they are just as good/bad as google, Samsung, etc.

And yes they make amazing devices and enrich people'ceot.s lives. Isn't it possible that a company can do both good and base things and that you can criticize their behavior at one point and still be a fan ?
But they aren't doing anything bad or wrong here. I hate Google and Scamsung, but those aren't doing anything wrong here either.

Change the law and they will follow it. It's a simple concept.
 
There are multiple issues here and we would do well not to conflate them.

First, as to Apple's conduct, their obligation is to adhere to the tax laws that apply to them -- nothing more, nothing less. No one pays more taxes than they owe out of a sense of charity. In fact, if Apple were to do so they would violate other legal obligations to their shareholders.

Second, to the extent U.S./European tax law permits Apple to get away with an unusually good deal or that it incentivizes Apple to keep money in a jurisdiction with a disproportionately small connection to its operations, then the laws must be reformed. Powerful forces try to confuse this issue because numerous large companies take advantage of the same "loopholes" on which Apple relies.
 
That's because it IS fraud. Apple doesn't want to pay it's share of taxes and never will because nobody cares to hold them accountable. Worse yet, this thread WILL have fanboys being apologetic about it and defending Apple....

Think about that; cheering on a corporation worth billions that evades taxes.

No, Apple pays the bill that Ireland is presenting them.

If Ireland is presenting a low bill, then it's because Apple has more countries in the EU to chose, from cheap labour to cheap taxes, to both.
 
Tax rates are 15% in Ireland and Apple don't even pay that. Apple's behaviour is a disgrace.

Like the article says, this isn't just Apple, but also Google, Amazon, etc. This suggests that, among other things, the interests of shareholders are prioritized above all else except, hopefully, the law. It's hard to argue that they shouldn't be.

But I would personally prefer that they would all would pay their taxes in the USA. It feels like we, as a country, are getting gypped by those who can afford to make the biggest contributions.
 
Joseph Stiglitz, an economic professor at Columbia University and 2001 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, has described Apple's tax arrangements in Ireland as "a fraud" in a recent interview with Bloomberg TV.Under current U.S. laws, Apple is able to

Yes, I saw that, and, I know the guy has a Nobel Prize, but, when I use the word "fraud", I don't mean something that is perfectly legal. I myself would like the tax laws to be modernized to handle (I hate this term, but ...) "intellectual property" better.
 
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Like the article says, this isn't just Apple, but also Google, Amazon, etc. This suggests that, among other things, the interests of shareholders are prioritized above all else except, hopefully, the law. It's hard to argue that they shouldn't be.

But I would personally prefer that they would all would pay their taxes in the USA. It feels like we're getting gypped.

Then expect to pay higher prices for anything you buy from these companies.
 
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Either lower the corporate tax to encourage companies to keep their cash in the US, or just cut the crap and find a way to seize it or tax them to death like the gov really wants.

Has this guy left his desk to actually build something or does he decide to call fraud just from his ivory tower without ever getting his hands dirty?
are you joking??
the guy's a Nobel laureate in economics and is calling out apple from _stealing_ from people like YOU and I and you're defending APPLE?????? what the hell???
 
But they aren't doing anything bad or wrong here. I hate Google and Scamsung, but those aren't doing anything wrong here either.

Change the law and they will follow it. It's a simple concept.

I disagree.

And why change the law if their behavior is just perfect ?
 
Either lower the corporate tax to encourage companies to keep their cash in the US, or just cut the crap and find a way to seize it or tax them to death like the gov really wants.

Has this guy left his desk to actually build something or does he decide to call fraud just from his ivory tower without ever getting his hands dirty?

Have you looked up tax rates between 1950 and now? In 1950, or arguably even before, it was to death and more. Now it's arguably too little, on top of everything else.

Also, if Apple is an American company then it shouldn't be putting taxes into Ireland and be a wannabe Irish company. I mean, you can't put money into someone else's system and enjoy all the benefits America gives you, right? I mean, if you are getting stuff you didn't pay for, isn't that like stealing?

[doublepost=1469809019][/doublepost]
I disagree.

And why change the law if their behavior is just perfect ?

Or, conversely, if the law is perfect.

In your case and mine, nobody said perfection exists.
 
No, I said tax at every stage of money changing hands. Corporations would be taxed to death too.

Your posts makes more sense when I think of the church lady from the Simpsons saying it..

"Won't somebody please think of the multi billion dollar multi national corporations"
 
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